T-MAX Developer questions

I mostly shoot slower speed film in bright light and have a current love afair going with Rodinal. But there are times when I need a good low light film for certain events, and have recently picked up a few rolls of T-Max P3200, which seems to be an ideal speed for what I need. I thought I would try a more appropriate developer for this film than Rodinal, and after reading some fairly recent threads on T-Max developer I thought I would give it a try. But I've got questions.

1. Publication J-86 that I downloaded from the Kodak website states "The temperature recommendation for most developers is 20C/68F; for Kodak Professional T-MAX Developer, it is 24C/75F. Why so warm? I presume it must produce the best results at 24C/75F or Kodak would not recommend it. Would results be inferior at the normal 68F?

2. Concerning storage, the same publication states that you can store working-strength solution in a full bottle for 6 months. If I use a higher dilution than the Kodak recommended 1:4, would storage life be shorter?

3. My last question concerns push processing. Publication J-86 states you should discard the solution after one batch of film if you use it for push processing. What is considered push-processing for TMZ P3200? Anything faster than the indicated box speed, or faster than than 800 or 1200, the suggested real speed of the film that was stated in other threads?

Thanks in advance.

Dave

Dave in Kansas said:

1. Publication J-86 that I downloaded from the Kodak website states "The temperature recommendation for most developers is 20C/68F; for Kodak Professional T-MAX Developer, it is 24C/75F. Why so warm? I

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Development times with many other Kodak developers (when concentrated enough for rotary processing) are too short at 24C. Thus the advantage of T-max developer's time-temp characteristics when rotary processing with a temp controlled bath.

The t-max dev. works fine for me at low temps also. I do some microfilm at 16 degrees C with T-max dev. to get a time around 5 minutes.

In terms of dilution, I'm not sure you woud want to dilute it more than recommended.

In terms of push processing and capacity, I always use it one-shot anyway.

Thanks for the replies. I was more curious than anything. I'll just go by the book and see how it works. Interestingly, I just finished developing a roll of Pan F in Rodinal and boy, the negatives look nice. Can't wait to print them. At some point, I have to try TMZ 3200 with Rodinal. What's a little bit of grain, anyway?

Dave